Commenting on the appointment, Robert Alter, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, "Over the past year that Terry has served on Sunstone's management team as General Counsel, he has provided significant in-house capabilities and efficiencies in negotiating and completing key acquisitions that have led to the Company's strong financial results. These acquisitions including the Kahler portfolio and each of our other individual hotels have enabled the Company to implement its acquisition, renovation, rebranding and repositioning strategy. Having Terry in this new role overseeing the day to day management of the Company's operations will allow me to explore other strategic growth opportunities that should allow Sunstone to continue its phenomenal growth." Crowley stated, "Since coming to Sunstone a year ago, I have worked closely with the Sunstone team on a wide variety of company matters and I am excited about this opportunity to broaden my involvement in Sunstone's continuing growth."

Prior to joining Sunstone in October, 1997, Crowley was a partner in two major international San Francisco-based law firms and prior to that, he was affiliated with a New York-based law firm. His clients have included publicly-traded Fortune 500 corporations and a variety of privately-held real estate companies. His educational background includes degrees from the University of Southern California and Loyola University, Los Angeles, specializing in real estate law.

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. is a leading self-administered real estate investment trust whose portfolio consists of luxury, upscale and mid-price hotels located primarily in the Pacific and Mountain regions of the western United States. The Company's growth strategy is to maximize shareholder value by (i) acquiring underperforming and undercapitalized hotels that are in attractive locations with significant barriers to entry and (ii) improving such hotels' financial performance by renovating, redeveloping, rebranding and repositioning the hotels and through the implementation of focused sales and marketing programs. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. is the only hotel REIT that currently focuses its acquisition strategy primarily in the western United States. Through Sunstone Hotel Investors, L.P., the Company owns or has invested in 57 hotels comprising 10,215 rooms.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results and the timing of certain events could differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.